Hointer seamlessly fuses tech and retail

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SEATTLE — Hointer, which opened last fall, allows men to buy jeans by combining "online conveniences without the offline B.S." Customers walk in, download an app onto a smartphone or tablet, scan a QR code on the tag and are automatically directed to a dressing room. After trying on the pants, they can either buy them on the spot with a credit card or drop them into a chute, which will automatically remove them from the "cart."

The store's omnichannel emphasis is the brainchild of former Amazon head of supply chain and fulfillment technologies Nadia Shouraboura. Two more stores are planned for Seattle and Palo Alto, Calif.